IPC
Background The International Publishing Corporation, also known as IPC Magazines Ltd, were for much of the 20th century one of the three largest comics publishers in Britain, along with D.C. Thomson and Marvel UK. Notable comics publications included 2000 AD, Buster, Tiger, Look and Learn, Girl, Hurricane, Battle Picture Weekly, Valiant, Misty, Tammy, June, Vulcan, Whizzer and Chips, Air Ace Picture Library, Scorcher, Score 'n' Roar, Tornado, Shiver and Shake, Monster Fun, Wow!, Cor!!, Knockout, Nipper, Lion, Whoopee!, Jackpot, Krazy Comic, Cheeky Weekly, Starlord, Eagle, Roy of the Rovers, Scream!, Action, Tornado and Speed. Later publications included Scouse Mouse, and also both Crisis and Revolver (which were aimed at an older age group). Formation of IPC IPC's history is a long and complex one. In 1958, Cecil Harmsworth King (chairman of the newspaper group which included the Daily Mirror) purchased magazine publishers Amalgamated Press Ltd, and in 1959 changed their name to Fleetway. In 1961, the company absorbed Odhams Press (publishers of the Power Comics line), who had themselves already absorbed both George Newnes Publishers and Hulton Press, publishers of the Eagle and its various sister titles. All the various companies had initially continued to operate as independent entities, but in 1963 were placed under the umbrella of a newly created parent company, the International Publishing Corporation, or IPC. The company was divided up into six divisions, with IPC Magazines Ltd handling the company's comics and consumer magazines (the other divisions handled newspapers, technical magazines, books, printing and other projects). In 1970, the company was taken over by Reed International. Later Developments/Dissolution of Fleetway In 1987, IPC's comic properties were divided up, with all the characters and strip published since 1st January 1970, plus 26 characters then appearing in Buster, allocated to Fleetway, now a separate company again, which was then sold to Pergamon Holdings, a company owned by Robert Maxwell. Infamously, Maxwell's son ordered the destruction of the comics archive, which he saw as simply taking up space; hundreds, perhaps thousands of pages of art were simply dumped in a skip in the rain, though some artists (including Kevin O'Neill) were allowed to recover some of their work. From 1990, Fleetway entered a brief partnership with SQ Production, an American company, to take over the line of Fleetway reprint titles previously circulated in the USA by Quality Communications. In 1991, Egmont UK purchased Fleetway and merged it with their own comics publishing operation, London Editions Magazines, to form Fleetway Editions. This was eventually absorbed into the main Egmont operation by 2000, though the science fiction anthology 2000 AD was sold off to Rebellion, with Egmont now publishing only reprint and licensed titles. IPC itself retained all its comics properties created before January 1970 (including the Steel Claw, Kelly's Eye and Battler Britton), the sole exception being Dan Dare, who was sold off separately to the Dan Dare Corporation. IPC Magazines is now IPC Media, and is owned by Time, Inc., the magazine publishing division of Time Warner, who purchased it in 2001. Revivals In 2005 to 2006, many of the IPC comic characters resurfaced in the pages of Albion, a six-issue limited series published by Wildstorm, an imprint of America's DC Comics, which is also owned by Time Warner. Separate series featuring Battler Britton and Thunderbolt Jaxon followed later, while in 2015 Titan Comics licensed Johnny Red and, the following year, Hook Jaw. Purchase by Rebellion In 2017 it was announced that Rebellion had purchased the rights to the majority of IPC's vintage material, and would shortly begin reprinting selected strips. Among the first to be reprinted were Monster, Misty, One-Eyed Jack and The Leopard from Lime Street. They have also begun reprinting shorter, less well known strips in the giveaway magazines packaged with the Judge Dredd Megazine, the first being The Lawless Touch from Tornado. In 2018, they acquired the rights to the material previously owned by Time Warner. IPC and Fleetway Publications * Action * Action Annual * Action Man Annual * Air Ace Picture Library * Batman and Judge Dredd: Judgement on Gotham * Batman Monthly * Batman Annuals * Battle Picture Weekly * Battle Picture Library * Battler Britton * Best of 2000 AD Monthly * Best of 2000 AD Special Edition * Best of Whoopee! * Big Comic Fortnightly * Buster * ''Captain Britain'' (IPC Version) * Cheeky Weekly * Comic Relief Comic * Complete Judge Dredd * Cor!! * Crisis * Daily Mirror Book of Garth Vol 1 * Dan Dare Annual * Dan Dare Holiday Special Vol 1 * Dan Dare Poster Magazine * Dice Man * Donald and Mickey * ''Eagle'' (Hulton Press) * ''Eagle'' (New) * ''Girl'' (Hulton Press) * ''Girl'' (IPC) * Girl's Crystal * Goofy * Hurricane * Hurricane Annual Vol 1 * Jackpot * Jag * Jet * Jinty * Judge Dredd Annual Vol 1 * Judge Dredd, Lawman of the Future * Judge Dredd Megazine * Judge Dredd: The Poster Prog * Judge Dredd Yearbook Vol 1 * June * June and Shool Friend Picture Library * ''Knockout'' (Amalgamated Press/Fleetway) * ''Knockout'' (IPC) * Krazy Comic * Lindy * Lion * Lion Picture Library * Look and Learn * Marvel Annual * M.A.S.K * Mickey and Donald * Mighty World of Marvel Annual * Misty * Monster Fun * Nipper * Oink! * Penny * Pink * Princess * Princess Tina * Ranger * Red Dwarf Smegazine * Revolver Vol 1 * Revolver Horror Special * Revolver Romance Special * Rogue Trooper Action Special Vol 1 1 * Rogue Trooper Annual * Rogue Trooper: The Poster Prog * Roy of the Rovers * Sally * Sandie * School Friend * Score 'n' Roar * Scorcher * Scouse Mouse * Scream! * Shiver and Shake * Smash! * Sonic the Comic * Speed * Speed Annual Vol 1 * Starlord * Starlord Annual Vol 1 * Star Trek Special * Super Detective Library * Superman * Superman Annuals * Super Naturals * Tammy * Thunder * Tiger * Tina * Tornado * Tornado Annual Vol 1 * Tornado Summer Special Vol 1 * The Trigan Empire * Thriller Picture Library * TV Century 21 * 2000 AD * 2000 AD Annual Vol 1 * 2000 AD Poster Progs * 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special Vol 1 * 2000 AD Winter Special Vol 1 * 2000 AD Yearbook Vol 1 * Valiant * Valiant Picture Library * Vulcan * War Picture Library * Wham! & Pow! Annual * Whizzer and Chips * Whoopee! * Wildcat * Wow! IPC/Fleetway Characters Some of the more memorable or interesting characters published by IPC/Fleetway. Spider(Albion).jpg|''Spider'' Robot Archie.jpg|''Robot Archie'' Tim Kelly.jpg|''Tim Kelly (Kelly's Eye)'' Steel Claw.jpg|''Steel Claw'' CursitorDoom.jpg|''Cursitor Doom'' Leopardman.jpg|''The Leopard from Lime Street'' One eyed jack.jpg|''One-Eyed Jack'' Hookjaw2.jpg|''Hook Jaw'' Doomlord.jpg|''Doomlord'' Charleybourne.jpg|''Charley Bourne'' Topps.jpg|''Topps on Two Wheels'' BlakeEdmonds.jpg|''Blake Edmonds (Death Wish)'' Misty1.jpg|''Misty'' Dredd.jpg|''Judge Dredd'' Slade01.jpg|''Robo-Hunter'' RogueTrooper1.jpg|''Rogue Trooper'' Tharg.jpg|''Tharg'' Strontium Dog.jpg|''Strontium Dog'' Howard Quartz.jpg|''Ro-Busters'' James blocker.jpg|''James Blocker'' Jake Flint.jpg|''Jake Flint'' Starlord.jpg|''Starlord'' Dave Gibbons.jpg|''Big E'' Black-Hawk.png|''Black-Hawk'' Wolfie Smith.jpg|''Wolfie Smith'' Ghastly.jpg|''Ghastly McNasty'' Dan Dare (Eagle).jpg|''Dan Dare (Eagle)'' DanDaremkII.jpg|''Dan Dare II (New Eagle)'' MekonNewEagle.jpg|''Mekon'' Captain Hurricane1.jpg|''Captain Hurricane'' Dolmann.jpg|''Dolmann'' Saber.jpg|''Saber, King of the Jungle'' Sid.jpg|''Sid (Sid's Snake)'' Sid's Snake 6.jpg|''Slippy'' Shiner.jpg|''Shiner'' Kidkong.jpg|''Kid Kong'' Sweenytoddlerprofile.jpg|''Sweeny Toddler'' Buster01.jpg|''Buster'' Cheeky.jpg|''Cheeky'' Faceache.jpg|''Faceache'' Frankie.jpg|''Frankie Stein'' Cougar.jpg|''Johnny Cougar'' Mick Tempest.jpg|''The Tower King'' Collector0001.jpg|''The Collector'' Eazy.jpg|''Major Eazy'' Rat-Pack-4.jpg|''Rat Pack'' Darkie.jpg|''Joe Darkie'' Johnnyred.jpg|''Johnny Red'' Royrace.jpg|''Roy Race'' Britton.jpg|''Battler Britton'' Manix.jpg|''Manix'' Streetwise.jpg|''Sgt. Streetwise'' Patchman.jpg|''Patchman'' Juggernautplanetz.jpg|''The Juggernaut from Planet Z'' Sludge.jpg|''The Sludge'' Supermum-3.gif|''Super Mum'' Janus.gif|''Janus Stark'' Mytek.jpg|''Mytek the Mighty'' Hellman.jpg|''Hellman'' Steelcommando.png|''Steel Commando'' Mcginty.jpg|''Paddy McGinty's Goat'' Dwarf.jpg|''The Dwarf'' Dr sin1.jpg|''Doctor Sin'' Sgts.jpg|''Sergeants Four'' Gogra.jpg|''Gogra'' blackmax.png|''Black Max'' Flintlock0019.jpg|''The Wizard of Football'' Gogogadget.jpg|''Gadgetman and Gimmick-Kid'' Kid chameleon1.jpg|''Kid Chameleon'' Guinea Pig.jpg|''Guinea Pig'' Baveants.jpg|''Andy's Ants'' Lily Pop2.jpg|''Lily Pop'' Sammy shrink.jpg|''Sammy Shrink'' John Probe.jpg|''M.A.C.H One'' Ro Jaws.jpg|''Ro-Jaws'' Hammerstein2.jpg|''Hammerstein'' Nemesis.jpg|''Nemesis the Warlock'' Torquemada.jpg|''Torquemada'' Mek-Quake.png|''Mek-Quake'' Venus.jpg|''Venus Bluegenes'' Finn04.jpg|''Finn'' Klep1.jpg|''Captain Klep'' Skid solo.jpg|''Skid Solo'' Dogfightdixon1.jpg|''Dogfight Dixon'' Vonhoffmansinvasion.jpg|''Von Hoffman'' Dr Mesmer.jpg|''Doctor Mesmer'' Steelcommando.png|''Steel Commando'' Schoolbelle.jpg|''School Belle'' Toyboy-1.gif|''Toy Boy'' Scaredstiffsam.png|''Scared Stiff Sam'' See Also * Eagle Comics * Quality Comics * 2000 AD * Rebellion Category:Publishers Category:IPC/Fleetway Publications